Tori Kelly Might Just Be the Next Britney Spears/Katy Perry/Taylor Swift

And you won't be able to get her new song, "Nobody Love," out of your head.

Tori Kelly, a 22-year-old YouTube sensation that Simon Cowell called "almost annoying" on season nine of American Idol before kicking her out of the competition, has just one thing to say to the TV host: "Thank you for not putting me on your show. Everything happens for a reason and I probably wouldn't be who I am now if I had made it on that show."

Kelly's new single, "Nobody Love," debuting today, is primed to be the singer/songwriter's breakout hit that she's been waiting for, after releasing two "teaser" EPs that—thanks to their intimate and acoustic-driven style—garnered her a cult following on YouTube (she has one million subscribers), with 661,000 Facebook likes and 443,000 Twitter followers.

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Kelly is backed by her music manager, Scooter Braun (who also looks after Justin Bieber), and Max Martin, the Swedish producer who has ruled the Billboard Hot 100 for over a decade with a string of hits for Britney Spears, Katy Perry, P!nk, and Taylor Swift. She has been praised for having a set of "emotionally expressive" and "powerful" vocal pipes that rival top pop stars before her, like Christina Aguilera and Mariah Carey.

When Sam Smith, who Kelly opened for during his recent tour in the UK, first saw the Temecula, California-raised musician onstage at South by Southwest in March, he said he had "never reacted physically to a singer like that" before. "I was grabbing people," he recalls. "Her vocal ability is unbelievable. She's a master of her voice, and this song ["Paper Hearts"] showcases that voice, which is like candy covered in honey."

And Martin, who serves as executive producer on Kelly's upcoming full-length debut album, which Capitol Records will release this spring, confessed, "After hearing Tori sing, we felt so inspired that we had no choice but to get involved. It's been such a pleasure to be a part of her journey."

We spoke to Kelly—who will be performing at the White House's annual Fit to Celebrate Benefit in Washington, D.C., on February 26—about her new single and upcoming album, which she describes as a "marriage between that soulful urban thing and a mainstream pop vibe"; as well as about the power of social media, and what it really takes to make a pop star—including that hallelujah moment when she knew she'd "cracked the code" of a hit pop song.

Sarah Barlow

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You write all your own lyrics. Can you tell us what is "Nobody Love" is about?

Yeah, I either write them on my own or it's a collaboration with other writers. When I walked into the studio, the chorus of "Nobody Love" was already set. For me the challenge was to make it have depth. I wanted it to still be fun and lighthearted to contrast with the heavier and deeper songs that I have [on the album]. For me the song is that in this generation, there is a lot of chasing the next thing, or constantly moving on from things and always searching for something better. This song is about the type of love that you just really know is not going anywhere, and you don't have to search everywhere to look for something better because you're just happy.

Did that come from something that happened in your own life? Do you use personal moments when writing songs?

It kind of depends. Sometimes I'll just walk in with something heavy on my heart that I have no choice but to write about it [laughs]. But other times, to be honest, it's kind of fun to play a bit of a character sometimes. Everything I write about either I have gone through or I know somebody has gone through, so it's very close to me, but sometimes it's about taking those feelings and exaggerating on them a little bit, being a bit more dramatic but still keeping them relatable.

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You were essentially "discovered" on YouTube, and now you have one million subscribers and 443,000 Twitter followers. Do you think social media has helped propel your career?

I definitely think social media played a huge role, especially in the beginning. I started writing music when I was 15 in my bedroom, and I'd post them on MySpace and from there it shifted to doing covers on YouTube, and building my Twitter. It was like, "Oh, people actually care what I have to say now." [Laughs.] And then there was Instagram, and then Vine and Snapchat even. It means I get to be really close to the people who are supporting my music, and it's also cool because they feel close to my journey. We're kind of going through it together.

After your two EPs, which didn't crack the mainstream as you perhaps hoped, what do you think makes a successful pop song? Is there a secret formula?

I think for me, the goal was never really for my EPs to go mainstream. I think the intention of them was to create a little bit of buzz and to show my musicality because I wrote and produced the EPs myself. The goal was to experiment, with no rules. It was kind of like a tease for what's to come. Then I had the opportunity to get in the studio with amazing producers, like Max Martin, and writers like Clark Kelly; it was a nice mixture. When I got into the studio with Max I was at a place in the album process where I had all of these really heartfelt songs but they didn't have a common thread. It felt a little all over the place. With Max, it was really cool to work with him because he threaded it all together.... "Nobody Love" is on the catchy side; that's definitely something that makes a good pop song—something really hooky. There are certain people that have that gift of just knowing what's catchy. But he really allowed me to put myself into the song; it wasn't like I walked in and he was like, "Here's your song, it's perfect already and you don't have to do anything." It was very much a collaboration. That's why a lot of artists like working with him.

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How do you differentiate yourself from other pop stars Max Martin has worked with, like Taylor Swift and Katy Perry? Were you ever worried your music would turn into something that people have already heard before?

There was naturally a little bit of that doubt in the beginning, but he quickly proved whatever doubts I had wrong. And I don't really think I have to worry about differentiating myself too much, because I think I'm at a place now where I've realized that if I'm myself, it works…and as cliche as it sounds, literally just being who I am has given me this sort of uniqueness, so I don't have to think about it that much. And it really just comes down to the music at the end of the day, I'm happy with how the music turned out.

When you first played "Nobody Love" for your friends, their initial reaction to the big-sounding pop track was, "Oh, this is really different for you." Do you feel like you had to change your musical style in any way to create what you think people want to hear?

Rather than changing it feels more like a growth. The style of music I was doing was a little older sounding, a little more singer-songwriter, which I still love. But I grew up listening to so many different things that I think it's just a new chapter. Like any artist you kind of evolve and grow into different versions of yourself. But at the end of the day it's still me. And I don't think I'm departing from that more acoustic side, either. There are definitely still those moments on the album. That was really important for me to keep.

You started singing at age three and took up drums at 12. Did you ever have any vocal coaching?

I credit a lot to my dad [a singer and a bassist]. He taught me a lot vocally growing up. I also started taking vocal lessons when I was about eight years old, and I still take them with the same coach, so that's kind of cool. He's seen me from the beginning.

You are being touted as the next big thing in pop music. Are you ready for what's to come?

Yeah, I am, to be honest [laughs]. I'm really at peace with everything. I think if you had asked me that a year ago, I would have probably been a little freaked out. But I think that this last year and a half I've been prepared, because it hasn't been an overnight type of thing. It's been a very gradual and organic process, just my whole career until now. So I'm going to continue taking it one day at a time and just try to enjoy all the little moments.